


Dagobah

by ravenhowlett



Series: A Clan of Two [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending, Crash Landing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker, Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi, Force Ghost Yoda (Star Wars), Force Ghost(s), Hurt/Comfort, Jedi, Keldabe Kiss, Planet Dagobah (Star Wars), Post-Canon, The Force, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22814122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenhowlett/pseuds/ravenhowlett
Summary: A strange little planet forces the Mandalorian to put things into perspective.
Series: A Clan of Two [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641136
Comments: 2
Kudos: 124





	Dagobah

**Author's Note:**

> it's my first time writing anything star wars related... be kind!

If the strange magnetic pull of the Razor Crest towards the planet's surface wasn't the first clue that something was wrong, the thick dense fog the ship was hurtling through was definitely a bad sign. Din was frantically trying to regain control of his ship while also reassuring the poor kid wailing in his little improvised booster seat that they were not in fact plummeting to their death. Whether he himself believed it or not was his own business but the kid was clearly afraid. After a few more seconds of uselessly flipping switches and turning dials with no result Din knew he had to reconcile with the idea that he was going to crash. He turned back to the kid and quickly pulled him onto his lap, securing him snugly to his chest in his seatbelt and wrapping his arms around him for good measure. He ducked his helmet down and waited for the inevitable impact. When it came he was jostled so roughly in his seat he worried the seatbelt might bust at the buckles.

Din waited a few minutes for the ship to settle in place before moving from his seat. He quickly assessed the still crying kid before replacing him back in his booster seat, pleased to see a lack of injury, and moved about the cockpit. The red emergency lights were still flashing overhead and providing a sort of stilted strobe effect inside the cockpit. He shut those off followed by the blaring alarms and then went back to the controls. To Din's horror the thrusters gave little more than a splutter before settling into complete silence and stillness. He flipped the switches and turned the dials again. Nothing. The Razor Crest was dead.

"Shit," he muttered as he picked the kid back up. He went down to the lower deck of the ship and tried to set the kid in his cubby but the kid clung his little hands to Din's armor, pressing his face to the cold steel as he continued to whimper. Right. He should be comforting him after such a frightening experience instead of stomping around angrily. He sat down on the small cot inside the cubby, allowing the kid to cling to him as he removed his helmet and set it aside.

"Ssh, hey," he said softly, stroking his gloved fingers up and down one long green downy soft ear. "It's all right, kiddo, the danger's gone. We landed and we're okay. It's okay. You're okay." The kid looked up slowly, his face wet with fresh tears and his little body shuddering with hiccups. He reached one hand up to Din's face, still not used to seeing him without his helmet even after two years of officially being bound as a clan. "I have to go outside and see the damage. Maybe someone heard our landing and is willing to help with repairs. But I need you to wait here where it's safe." Din pressed his forehead to the kid's for a long moment and then finally settled him onto the cot, helping him cozy up in the weighted blanket before shutting the door and putting his helmet back on. He collected his blaster and rifle and several rounds and stalked off to the bay door, waiting impatiently for it to open and then immediately wishing he'd had the good sense to check his surroundings before stepping out.

He stopped short just two steps from the ship when he realized he was standing in a bog of some sort. The peat was dense and thick but it didn't stop his boots from plunging him shin deep into muck. He had to hike to the edge of the bog where the land was solid in order to take stock of the condition of the Crest. It had its dents and scratches, some heavy carbon scoring near the face, and even some bent up landing gear, but the worst of the damage had nothing to do with the health of the ship at all. Not only was it settled several feet deep into the bog, there were thick vines coming from the peat and wrapping around the ship itself, almost as if keeping it locked in place. Great. Crash landing on a sentient bog planet is just what they needed.

He went back inside to secure his jetpack in order to get an areal view of the vines and to see if there was any part of the ship not sitting in peat. There wasn't. Back inside, Din prepared a knapsack with supplies and rations; the kid would be cranky if he didn't have at least a snack after his nap so he packed a pouch of dried fruit along with their things. Surprisingly the kid was actually asleep. Din would have to be careful not to jostle around too much with the jetpack if the kid was going to be riding inside the knapsack. When they were outside again with the bay door closed he rose into the air in search of life. Hopefully someone lived within range of the crash. If not, well then they were as good as stranded.

An hour of flying passed, the heat seeking feature of Din's visor didn't blip for anything larger or more competent than a few small rodents. The monotony of the landscape eventually transformed from bogs to swamps but other than that this planet wasn't proving to be a very interesting place. At least every hundred yards or so Din was catching glimpses of solid ground again. He touched down gently, testing the surface before settling his full weight. After a few minutes of walking the kid began to stir inside the knapsack and giggle at the squelching sound of his steps.

Din patted the knapsack affectionately and kept walking. Now that he was paying proper attention to his surroundings it was easy to tell the difference between a traversable surface and the deep dark murky waters of a swamp. The surrounding trees in the area were allowing little light to shine through their leaves so Din was mostly relying on various visor settings to navigate.

_"Taken good care of the youngling, you have..."_ a mysterious voice whispered near Din.

He pulled his blaster from its holster before the voice had even finished speaking, turning in circles, searching for the source. "Show yourself." The longer the voice eluded him the more sure he was he'd imagined it. He stalked around a few more yards and the cover of trees grew darker around him, thick with fog.

_"A fine Padawan he will make! Hm, yes."_

"I said show yourself. I won't ask again."

The voice appeared near him again. _"Ask the first time you did not!"_

Din whirled around and for a brief moment he thought he could see a spec of light. The spec shimmered and warped until the fog began to clear. The spec was no longer a spec, as it grew into the form of a small being...

Din couldn't believe his eyes. There was a very familiar creature sitting before him on a rotten log. Well, a ghostly form of a familiar creature.

_"Surprised you are? The only one of his kind the child is not!"_

Din did not reholster his blaster nor did he take a step closer to the creature. "Who are you? And what do you know of the kid?"

_"Useless here that weapon is. Produce the child. No harm to him will come. Bathed in the Force he is. A brave Jedi Knight he will be."_

"A Jedi... The sorcerers. What is the Force? You mean his power, right?" Finally the blaster was put away. "Tell me what you know." The creature stared expectantly at the knapsack where the kid still lounged. There was rustling and crunching; he must have opened the rations. Din slowly opened the sack and lifted the kid out, holding him in one arm carefully, cautiously. The kid cooed up at his father and then directed his attention to the figure across from him. His ears folded down for a moment and there was a contemplative murmur before he struggled out of Din's grasp. He hopped to the ground and toddled over to the log to get a better look at the shimmering figure.

_"Yes, youngling, like you I am. Tell me you must, how in the Mandalorian's care you came to be."_ The figure reached his hand out and at the same time so did the kid. Their hands touched and silence fell, only for a moment. The kid's ears folded again and the creature nodded and 'hmed' and then they pulled their hands back. _"I see, I see. Very courageous your father is. To steal from the Empire equal to signing a death warrant it is. Foolish, yes! Brave! Compassionate he is."_

"You're a Jedi then? Like him? Please, I must know-"

_"A Jedi he is not. A Padawan Learner he must first become. Learn the ways of the Force he must! Hm, yes. Learn well he must. Light or Dark he must choose."_

"Can you teach him?" Din stepped closer finally, not wanting the kid to stray too far from him. Not that he was going anywhere; the kid was so focused on the old creature Din was sure he would stare all night if he let him. "The kid has been in my care for several years now. I am supposed to look for his kind, allow them to raise him once found. But. I don't- I am his father."

The creature nodded, his wrinkled face solemn and serious. _"A loving father you have been. Firm when necessary, but a home you have provided for him. A Clan of Two. Easy fatherhood is not! Ha! Easy to separate it will not be. A most devastating loss for you both. Both ways the love runs. Deep!"_

Separation. Din hadn't allowed himself to think of that in all the time he'd spent with the kid. He had always expected that this search would just go on, that he would raise the kid into an adult, or some semblance of one, that he'd witness his son receiving his first piece of Beskar. That he would raise his son as a Mandalorian. To part with him now, he wouldn't be able to do those things with him. He'd no longer be his son. He would be a Jedi.

_"Hm. Much conflict I sense in you, Mandalorian."_

"He is my son."

_"So you have said."_

"How am I supposed to give him up? And to you? You're no more than-than a play of light! Who would take care of him?" Din's lip curled under his helmet, his stance was rigid again. His fingers twitched and shook but he didn't reach for his blaster. He glanced from the kid to the creature a few times, and the kid smiled up at him every time.

_"True that may be but alone we are not!"_ As soon as he spoke two more light specs appeared behind him.

_"Master Yoda is right you know,"_ a new voice spoke. One spec shimmered into existence the image of an older man clad in brown robes much like this Master Yoda wore.

_"Perhaps we should hear the Mandalorian out,"_ a third voice chimed in. The third spec shimmered until the image of a young man appeared, younger than Din by at least a decade and clad in darker robes than his companions _. "Your concerns about being separated from your child are valid."_

_"Valid maybe, but I sense recklessness in him! The child will be safer in our care, Mandalorian, a life on the run is no life at all. He must train here and learn to become self sufficient."_

_"But Obi-Wan you are not seeing this from a parent's point of view. From the moment he rescued the child they shared a familial bond. To separate them now after becoming a Clan, well Master Yoda is right indeed, it would hurt them both. You and I both know what effects anger and loss and fear can have on someone so sensitive with the force, especially on a youngling. I suggest a compromise."_

_"Of course you do, Ani. But that is not for you to decide. Master Yoda, what do you think?"_

The creature-Master Yoda seemed to be deep in thought, he didn't speak for a full minute. The kid didn't mind much since there were two new shiny faces to entertain him. _"Correct young Anakin is. Compromise we must. Risk not the future of the Jedi Order for antiquated rules that serve no one. Train the child will, but remain his father the Mandalorian will. Hm, yes!"_ And then Master Yoda was gone, nothing more than a simple spec in the dark. The child gasped and reached his little clawed hands through the air as if to feel around for him.

_"Fret not, young one. You will see him again. Master Yoda is the greatest Jedi who ever lived and he will see to it that you receive the finest Jedi Master to train you."_

Anakin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms before walking over to the kid. _"A bit presumptuous, aren't you Obi-Wan?"_ He knelt before him before speaking again. _"Don't worry, I'll be there to give you a fresher take on Jedi politics and laws than this old fossil could ever come up with."_ He stood again and looked to Din. _"Your son will be in good hands. The Force wills it that way."_ And then the two Jedi stepped back and their shimmers faded to specs again until they flicked into nothing.

The kid looked to Din then, holding his hands up, asking to be held. Din complied, taking a seat on the log and allowing him to climb into his lap again like earlier. He was sure the kid understood what just took place. He seemed calm. Din's hands were still shaking, his heart pounded in his chest but not with fear. It was a familiar feeling. Love. And loss. He knew his duty to his son was to allow him to train here. These Jedi appeared to be competent, experienced even. Master Yoda was even said to be the greatest Jedi who ever lived. Din wasn't sure what he believed. But he knew in his heart that in order to give his son what he needed, he would have to leave him here. He'd be a distraction if he stayed. He could only give his son the best of him.

The kid cooed softly as his father stroked his ear. Then he stood up in his lap and pulled Din's helmet forward and touched foreheads in kov'nyn. Din wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, snug to his chest, sighing and shaking still. He would leave soon.

_He would return._

**Author's Note:**

> i really feel like there needs to be a moment in the show where din and the kiddo willingly split up for a while. i think it would be a great parallel to the scene where he gives him to the imps as part of his job. the difference here is that he knows the kid will thrive in this setting and he knows he won't be in any danger. he will Always come back for him!
> 
> if anyone wants to say hey, i'm mexicanlukeskywalker over on tumblr!


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